How to use a Charcoal Smoker – Easy Steps Explained

Smoking is one of the best authentic ways of cooking moist and flavourful meat at home. This cooking style is different compared to the grilling technique because, in the smokers, indirect heat is used for cooking. While using the smoker, you must know the right amount of temperature and the water quantity required to get the moist and delicious barbecue.

How to use a Charcoal Smoker

Comparing other cooking methods and the Charcoal style, charcoal one requires added skills. Well, it is not like you know the recipe, and you make the food. In the smoking method, along with the recipe, you need to know the right temperature and also keep checking the water level at regular intervals.

Do not over cook or under cook meat. It gets messy that way. To get all the things right, you need to install and use the Smoker in the right manner.

First, you have to create a Smoke environment, and then maintain that for some time. Once you complete both these steps, you can try out different recipes on the smoker.

Step 1

For creating a smoky environment, you will need to get the charcoal on board. Not a board, you have to place the charcoal within a chimney. Visit your nearest local hardware shop, and there you will get a chimney. After this add the charcoal and light it up. Keep the container as it is for 15 minutes. This is a compulsory step since you will need charcoal for the processing.

Time to take the smoker system. First, place the unlit charcoal pieces on one side of the smoker, and pour the hot charcoal pieces on top of the unlit ones. Place this on one side, and keep the meat on the other side. You can even put the meat in the middle, and surround it with charcoal. In this manner, the meat will get the indirect heat from the charcoal, and the cooking process will begin.

You can make use of wood chunks for enhancing the flavor. Some of the common woods used in smokers include apple, cherry, oak, and hickory woods.

Also, the smoker includes one water pan.But if you don’t have one, you can make use of the baking pan too. The primary job is to get a quality amount of vapor within the system. This helps with cooking the meat evenly in the smoker.

And now, it’s time to place the meat on the grates. Do ensure that you keep the large pieces in the last grate. And the small chicken pieces placed on the top grate, as it requires less vapor for cooking.

Step 2

This section is related about how to maintain the smoke. You will find two vents on the smoker, on the top and the bottom side. We use the lower vent to deal with all sorts of lower temperature requirements. The top vent has to be kept open throughout the process. Only if the bottom vent does not adjust the temperature in the needed way, the top vent has to be kept closed.

Let the smoker do the smoking job. Make sure that you don’t open and close the lid at regular intervals. This way all the smoke and flavor will escape from the unit.

Step 3

With this, you are set with the unit, and now also aware about how to maintain the smoke within it. Try out different pork barbecue recipes, and other unique dishes like the beer can chicken. You can even begin with simple BBQ ribs.

In this way, you can start off with your Charcoal Smoking! We hope that you guys enjoyed reading the article throughout. When you are dealing with any Smoker method, patience is the way to success. Happy Smoking Folks!

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Smokerify is a one stop place for all the barbecue enthusiasts out there. Once while holidaying in Argentina, we got to taste amazingly tasting Barbeque. Since then “ Life needs more Barbecue” became our motto. That’s when the idea of Smokerify popped up. We cannot get you to taste the best barbecued or smoked or grilled meat. Yet, we can help you in choosing the best Smokers that make the perfect smoked meat.